This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for repetitively watering a lawn, yard or garden, etc., with a sprinkler; more specifically, it relates to a technique for repetitively placing a single sprinkler head in a plurality of preselected positions where there will be assurance that the sprinkler will adequately and completely furnish water to a selected area.
It is known that some persons are fortunate enough to have both lawns and sufficient available water so that they may use that water to foster the growth and maintenance of healthy grass. It is also known that such persons may accomplish the watering task in at least three ways. First, an individual sprinkler head may be connected to a water hose and manually placed around the yard at points that seem to be appropriate for achieving a desired amount of watering. Another technique involves a mechanized or somewhat automated sprinkler which traverses a track or path that has been defined by someone for the purpose of moving a sprinkler from one spot to another without manual intervention. A more sophisticated, but also much more expensive, technique involves the establishment of buried supply lines and a plurality of permanently located sprinkler heads that pop up when they are pressurized. With such in-ground or buried supply systems, the sprinkler heads are positioned so that they will repetitively furnish water to a person's lawn on whatever schedule seems to be desirable. Indeed, with any of the three systems described herein, automatic timers can be utilized so that water sprinkling may commence at a desired time, continue for as long as seems to be appropriate, and then automatically shut down.
Of the three systems described so far, the in-ground system is naturally the easiest to use, the fastest, and is probably the most dependable as far as providing a uniform and dependable watering pattern. However, there are at least four reasons why an in-ground watering system might not be appropriate for many persons. The first reason is the expense involved with installing such a system. It is not unusual for the installation of an in-ground system to cost on the order of 30 to 45 cents per square foot of lawn. And persons who are renting or leasing a house, or who plan to move within a few years and wish to avoid any unnecessary capital expenditures, may find that in-ground systems do not seem to make good economic sense, even though such persons might wish to promote and sustain a healthy, green lawn for the number of months or years that they occupy a particular house.
A second reason for opting to forego the benefits of an in-ground watering system relates to climate and the fact that water at atmospheric pressure freezes at 32.degree. Fahrenheit. In northern climes where the temperature routinely drops below freezing for extended periods, extra care must be taken to bury supply lines very deep and to provide for draining water out of the system in order to "winterize" it. But attempts to completely drain deeply buried water pipes are not always successful, and many in-ground sprinkler systems in northern states are frequently in need of repair after a severe winter. When those who don't already have such a system see that their neighbors regularly have problems that require significant repairs, it tends to discourage people from installing an in-ground system.
A third reason why in-ground systems are probably not the ultimate watering solution is that they are intended to be, are commonly sold as, and are generally considered to be, permanent. The consequence of this is that changing conditions in a person's yard-such as adding a new flower bed or a patio-can also involve making a major change in water pipes that are buried several inches in the ground. This can also mean removing one or more sprinkler heads and having an adverse effect on an elaborate watering plan for a yard, or digging new ditches to relocate existing pipes or new ones. Therefore, the inability to easily change an in-ground system to meet new conditions makes it necessary that a person plan very carefully before ever installing such a system-and then never make any significant changes in a yard.
A fourth reason why in-ground systems are not necessarily the ultimate for all people is that available water may vary from year to year. If a drought should prompt a city to ask that residents voluntarily cut back on the consumption of non-essential water, a person may wish to continue to water certain shrubs, flowers and trees but to quit watering the grass, allowing it to subsist on whatever rainwater may fall. But if the shrubs, flower gardens and trees are all served by the same in-ground system that is used to water the grass, there is no way to segregate one area from the others. This would be analogous to having to simultaneously turn on every single faucet in a residence when someone only wanted to get a single glass of water in the kitchen. Fortunately, our houses and buildings are routinely built in such a way that we can selectively turn on a single faucet without wasting water at all other outlets at the same time. It would be desirable to be able to have a similar degree of control over the sprinklers in a yard, lawn, garden, etc. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide at least some selective control over water supply to a yard and the like without losing the benefits of any of the work that goes into establishing a planned supply system.
Another object is to provide a water-sprinkler system that offers some of the advantages of an in-ground system without incurring the substantial expense of such systems.
A further object is to provide a system that is sufficiently permanent as to probably satisfy nearly all persons but which is also sufficiently flexible that it may be altered without the necessity of ruining a perfectly good lawn or hiring a crew of skilled craftsmen.
These and other objects will no doubt be apparent from a reading of the specification and the claims appended thereto, with appropriate reference to the several figures of the drawing provided herewith.